Faculty Profiles

Robert G. Lahita MD, PhD, FACP, FACR, FRCP Ellen Cohen, MD Marc Cohen, MD, FACC Robert A. Levinson, MD Alice J. Cohen, MD, FACP Monroe Karetzky, MD Theresa Redling, DO Melvin Goldblatt, MD Eli Bishburg, MD Thiri Anandarangam, MD

Robert G. Lahita MD, PhD, FACP, FACR, FRCP, is the Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. He also serves as a Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical School and is currently a senior attending physician at Saint Vincent’s Medical Center in NYC as well and an adjunct Professor of Medicine at the New York Medical College.

Dr. Lahita earned his medical degree from the Jefferson Medical College and his doctorate in microbiology from the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He received his postgraduate training in internal medicine at New York Hospital- Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases. He later joined the laboratory of Henry G. Kunkel at the Rockefeller University as Research Associate and Post Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Immunology. Dr. Lahita rose to the rank of Associate Professor at Rockefeller and subsequently became the Chief of Rheumatology at Saint Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital in New York and Associate Professor at Columbia University. Later, he left Saint Luke’s Hospital and became Professor of Medicine at the New York Medical College.

In addition to his academic and medical appointments, Dr. Lahita has written, co written, edited, and co edited numerous books on the topic of lupus, including Lupus: Everything You Want to Know. His most recent work is a book entitled Women and Autoimmune Disease, your body betrayed, from Harper Collins. He serves as the Editor of the Yearbook of Rheumatology, Associate Editor of the Journal Lupus and is on numerous other editorial boards. He is also the editor of the standard textbook called Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (4th edition) and the Textbook of Autoimmune Diseases.

The recipient of numerous research grants from the Primus Foundation, the Lupus Foundation of America and the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Lahita is internationally recognized for his clinical research in systemic lupus erythematosus and autoimmune diseases. His findings have been the subject of more than 170 published research articles and book chapters and over nine books. Currently, Dr. Lahita’s interests include the role of sex hormones on apoptosis, the association of gonadal pathology in women with the onset of autoimmunity, and autoimmunity in men.

Ellen Cohen, M.D., has been Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center since November, 2002. A graduate of Cornell University Medical College, Dr. Cohen received her undergraduate education at  Hampshire College and the University of Massachusetts. She is board certified in Internal Medicine, having trained in Primary Care Internal Medicine at Saint Vincent's Medical Center in New York City in the 1980's.

Before taking over leadership of the residency program at Newark Beth Israel, Dr. Cohen spent over 15 years as a faculty member at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, where she played a leadership role in Graduate Medical Education in the Department of Medicine. Her major roles in the department there included those of Associate Director of the Primary Care Internal Medicine residency, and Director of Ambulatory Medical Education. Dr. Cohen is Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and has been active in several committees of the Society of General Internal Medicine. Major areas of interest in research and clinical education include preventive medicine and screening, women's health, and physician-patient communication, with an over-arching commitment to integrating the development of critical-reasoning skills into all aspects of clinical training for the house staff.

Marc Cohen, M.D., F.A.C.C., is Chief of the Division of Cardiology, and Director of the Cardiology fellowship at the Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Previously, he was the Director of Clinical Research at the Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA, and was the Director of the Cardiac Cath Lab at Hahnemann University Hospital for 10 years. He received his medical degree with honors from New York University School of Medicine. Dr. Cohen completed his internship, residency and fellowship in cardiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine, the Board of Cardiovascular Diseases, and subspecialty of the Board of Interventional Cardiology.

Dr. Cohen is a fellow of numerous professional organizations, including the American College of Cardiology, the American College of Physicians, and the Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions. He serves on the Council on Clinical Cardiology, and the Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology of the American Heart Association. He has served as a consultant on the Clinical Trial Review Committee of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and has participated in numerous clinical trials, serving as the lead investigator of the international, multi-center ESSENCE trial, ACUTE I and II, and the TETAMI trial, and was the co-lead investigator for the PRISM trial.

Dr. Cohen has authored or co-authored more than 170 articles including 95 peer reviewed original papers. He has consulted on manuscripts for peer-reviewed  journals, such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Circulation, Journal of the American College of Cardiology and others. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the American Journal of Cardiology, and the Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolyis. He also has contributed chapters on cardiology for several books including, "Unstable Angina: Antithrombotics and Thrombolytics" and "Prevention and Treatment of Unstable Angina."

Robert A. Levinson, M.D., is Director of the Division of Gastroenterology and an attending physician at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. He earned his bachelor’s degree with honors from New York University and his medical degree with honors in medicine and psychiatry at the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Dr. Levinson is a fellow of both the American College of Physicians and the American College of Gastroenterology, and is a member of the New Jersey Gastroenterological Association, the New York Academy of Science, and the Health Care Advisory Committee in Livingston. The recipient of the Gip A. Hudson Memorial Award for the Study of Liver Disease, Dr. Levinson has published numerous articles about his specialty.

Alice J. Cohen, M.D., F.A.C.P., is Director of the Division of Hematology and Oncology, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and oversees the Flo Okin Oncology and Blood Disorders Center and the Comprehensive Hemophilia Treatment Center. Board certified in internal medicine, hematology and oncology, Dr. Cohen received her bachelor’s degree from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and her medical degree from Chicago Medical School in Illinois. Dr. Cohen completed her postgraduate training in internal medicine at New York University and completed research fellowships in hematology and oncology at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York. She is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Cohen is an investigator for the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project.  

Monroe Karetzky, M.D., is Director of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. Board certified in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine, critical care medicine, geriatrics and nutrition support, Dr. Karetzky received  his bachelor’s degree and his medical degree from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.  He completed his internship and residency at Mary Imogene Basset Hospital in Cooperstown, N.Y., where he also completed his fellowship in cardiopulmonary disease and physiology. Dr. Karetzky is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey Medical School.

His major research interests include nutritional support in critical care and cardiovascular effects of sleep disorders.

Theresa Redling, D.O., received her medical degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed a residency in internal medicine at Morristown Memorial Hospital, Morristown, NJ. Dr. Redling went on to finish a Geriatric Fellowship at Mount Sinai Medical School in NYC under the directorship of the Founding Director of the National Institute on Aging, the world-renowned Dr. Robert Butler. She is board certified in both internal medicine and geriatrics.

Presently, Dr. Redling is the Chief of the Geriatric Division at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She joins the staff in New Jersey after running the Geriatric Division at NYC's Beth Israel Medical Center where she was also Assistant Professor of Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Her interests include geriatric education, productive aging and improving hospital care for the elderly.

Melvin Goldblatt, M.D., Director of Nephrology, has been an attending in Nephrology at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center since 1975. He has had a great interest in kidney transplantation and is the Renal Transplant Program Director as well. Research projects have included studies of hepatitis C in kidney transplant patients, efficacy of antibody induction therapy in African American recipients, and management of hyperparathyroidism in renal failure patients.

He received his MD degree from Yale University School of Medicine and did his postgraduate training in internal medicine and nephrology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He then served as nephrologist for the U.S. Navy at the National Naval Medical Center. Dr. Goldblat became director of the Nephrology fellowship program at NBIMC in 2000.

Eliahu Bishburg, M.D., is Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. Board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Bishburg received his medical degree at Tel Aviv University Sackler School of Medicine. He completed his fellowship training at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Dr. Bishburg directs the Infectious Diseases consultation service and the HIV outpatient clinic. Dr. Bishburg has been involved in the NBIMC internal medicine residency program since 1989. Prior to his current position he worked as the medical director for the AIDS program at the New Jersey State Department of Health. Dr. Bishburg is a member of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the American Society of Microbiology. His main interests are AIDS and tuberculosis.

Thiri Anandarangam, MD., is a program director for the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Program at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Anandarangam received his medical degree from Kilpauk Medical College (University of Madras) in Madras, India. He completed his Internship in Internal Medicine at Catholic Medical Center in Queens, New York, and his Residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (Newark), where he also completed his fellowships in Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care Medicine. He pursued further postgraduate training at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York where he completed a fellowship in advanced echocardiography.

His major research interests include Sepsis, Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Pulmonary Hypertension, Interstitial Lung Disease, Ventilator Management , Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease, Asthma and Cardio-Pulmonary Exercise Testing.